By Jason Stamm, HokieHaven.com
LYNCHBURG - As hard as it might be to think about after the VHSL Class 4A state championship game, there was a brief point early in the second quarter that Lake Taylor trailed Salem, 10-7.
After that, the Titans turned on the jets, running away for a 41-16 win and their second state title in three seasons.
Using the ground/air combo of senior quarterback Shiheem Johnson and senior wide receiver Nhyre Quinerly, Lake Taylor racked up 381 yards of total offense, though 255 of that came in the second half.
Johnson ran for 123 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries. He also completed 11 of 19 passes for another 168 yards and a touchdown pass. Quinerly, an East Carolina commitment, had eight catches for 97 yards, but got into the end zone just before halftime on an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown.
For the Spartans, Virginia Tech senior running back commit Coleman Fox wasn't much of a factor. Still nursing a sprained ankle, Fox played sparingly on offense to start, missing a screen pass to the right flat, off his finger trips on the second drive of the game. With under five minutes to play in the third quarter, he had his only carry of the game, up middle for five yards. Fox did have seven tackles on defense.
This game belonged to the Titans, though it did take a little bit of time for them to shift into gear.
Salem took the opening possession at its own 38 and drove to the Lake Taylor 36. But the Spartans ran into a wall in sophomore defensive tackle Darnell Ewell, who came up with a big sack, which was followed up by a sack from senior linebacker Marquis Poole. The latter turned the ball over on downs to the Titans at the Spartans' 49 yard-line.
And Lake Taylor quickly took advantage. A shovel pass from Johnson to junior running back Dazmine Palmer went 30 yards to put the Titans in prime position. Johnson capped off the five-play drive with a nine-yard jaunt up the middle of the field on a read option. With 7:50 left in the first quarter, Lake Taylor grabbed an early 7-0 lead.
Salem senior quarterback Austin Couling got the Spartans going on the ensuing drive, hitting senior running back Davonta Womack for 14 yards. Salem advanced to the Titans' 29 yard-line, but were driven back by a false start, a deflected pass by Poole and an incompletion by Couling on fourth and five, handing the ball back to Lake Taylor.
The Titans went three and out, though, giving the ball back to the Spartans. And it didn't take them long to capitalize. Junior running back Donte Clayborne took the hand-off and ran to off tackle to the left, found a big hole and galloped, untouched for a 72-yard touchdown run. With 1:28 to play in the first quarter, Salem knotted the score at 7-7.
The Spartans caught a big break right off the bat on the ensuing drive. Johnson's pitch to Palmer on the first play was behind Palmer and Womack jumped on the fumble at the Lake Taylor 22 yard-line. But the Salem drive stalled at the nine yard-line and it settled for a 26-yard field goal from senior Kyle Reighard to give the Spartans a 10-7 lead with 10:04 left in the second quarter.
The Titans got moving on their next drive, though. Johnson hit Quinerly for a 19-yard completion on an out pattern to the right. Palmer then rushed for seven yards, senior Marcus Hawkins picked up a nine-yard run and Johnson bulled his way for a six-yard carry to the four yard-line. Johnson then muscled up the middle and into the end zone with 3:14 before halftime to give Lake Taylor the lead back at 14-10. The drive chewed 6:43 off the clock.
An attempted response by Salem ended in a punt, right into the hands of Quinerly, eagerly awaiting at his own 18 yard-line. Quinerly juked and jived left, then right, before racing down the right sideline 82 yards for a touchdown with just over a minute to play before halftime. And at the break, the Titans had a commanding 21-10 lead.
In the first half, Salem outgained Lake Taylor 140-126, but was just 1-5 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down.
The Titans picked up where they left off to start the third quarter. After advancing the ball passed mid-field, Johnson hit Quinerly on a screen to the right, with Quinerly shedding a tackler for a 25-yard pickup to the 20 yard-line. But Lake Taylor couldn't pick up another first down, as junior linebacker sacked Johnson for a four-yard loss, back to the 19 yard-line.
On the following drive, though, the Spartans quickly got the ball back. Clayborne had the ball popped loose on a run to the right and JT Wahee recovered the ball at the Salem 45 yard-line.
On the very next play, junior wide receiver Wayne Davis got one-on-one coverage and Johnson saw it. Johnson threw a rainbow to Davis, who caught the ball in the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown reception. And with 6:54 still left in the third quarter, the Titans had a commanding 28-10 lead.
But the Spartans weren't out of it just yet. Coulling play action-faked, then hit a wide open Cody Peregoy for a 49-yard rumble over the middle of the field to the Lake Taylor 31 yard-line. Salem couldn't do anything though on its next four plays, including an incomplete pass on fourth and five to give the ball back to the Titans at their own 26 yard-line.
That was plenty of room for Johnson to work with. He took the first play of the next drive left on a keeper, cut back over the middle of the field and took off on a 72-yard touchdown run. Johnson was shaken up on the play, though and the ensuing extra point went wide right, but Lake Taylor still had a 34-10 lead with 3:05 left in the third quarter.
The Spartans, though, quickly ended the scoring onslaught. They struck back with just a few plays, starting with a 43-yard run to the right by Clayborne. Coulling then found a wide open Isaiah Parker just before the goal line on the next play, as Parker tumbled into the end zone for a touchdown. Salem still faced a 34-16 deficit, but with 2:37 in the third quarter, at least had some life.
The Titans chewed up plenty of clock, though and got a few timely plays to keep going. One of those came when Johnson scrambled right and threw a strike to Palmer for 24 yards to the Spartans' 22 yard-line. Lake Taylor was forced to punt on fourth and 22, but the drive took 5:17.
Salem, though, dug itself a bit more of a hole when it failed to convert another fourth down at its own 33 yard-line. And after salting more of the clock, Johnson put the game away with an eight-yard touchdown run to the left with 3:13 to play. The Titans had a 41-16 advantage and the championship well in hand.
LYNCHBURG - As hard as it might be to think about after the VHSL Class 4A state championship game, there was a brief point early in the second quarter that Lake Taylor trailed Salem, 10-7.
After that, the Titans turned on the jets, running away for a 41-16 win and their second state title in three seasons.
Using the ground/air combo of senior quarterback Shiheem Johnson and senior wide receiver Nhyre Quinerly, Lake Taylor racked up 381 yards of total offense, though 255 of that came in the second half.
Johnson ran for 123 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries. He also completed 11 of 19 passes for another 168 yards and a touchdown pass. Quinerly, an East Carolina commitment, had eight catches for 97 yards, but got into the end zone just before halftime on an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown.
For the Spartans, Virginia Tech senior running back commit Coleman Fox wasn't much of a factor. Still nursing a sprained ankle, Fox played sparingly on offense to start, missing a screen pass to the right flat, off his finger trips on the second drive of the game. With under five minutes to play in the third quarter, he had his only carry of the game, up middle for five yards. Fox did have seven tackles on defense.
This game belonged to the Titans, though it did take a little bit of time for them to shift into gear.
Salem took the opening possession at its own 38 and drove to the Lake Taylor 36. But the Spartans ran into a wall in sophomore defensive tackle Darnell Ewell, who came up with a big sack, which was followed up by a sack from senior linebacker Marquis Poole. The latter turned the ball over on downs to the Titans at the Spartans' 49 yard-line.
And Lake Taylor quickly took advantage. A shovel pass from Johnson to junior running back Dazmine Palmer went 30 yards to put the Titans in prime position. Johnson capped off the five-play drive with a nine-yard jaunt up the middle of the field on a read option. With 7:50 left in the first quarter, Lake Taylor grabbed an early 7-0 lead.
Salem senior quarterback Austin Couling got the Spartans going on the ensuing drive, hitting senior running back Davonta Womack for 14 yards. Salem advanced to the Titans' 29 yard-line, but were driven back by a false start, a deflected pass by Poole and an incompletion by Couling on fourth and five, handing the ball back to Lake Taylor.
The Titans went three and out, though, giving the ball back to the Spartans. And it didn't take them long to capitalize. Junior running back Donte Clayborne took the hand-off and ran to off tackle to the left, found a big hole and galloped, untouched for a 72-yard touchdown run. With 1:28 to play in the first quarter, Salem knotted the score at 7-7.
The Spartans caught a big break right off the bat on the ensuing drive. Johnson's pitch to Palmer on the first play was behind Palmer and Womack jumped on the fumble at the Lake Taylor 22 yard-line. But the Salem drive stalled at the nine yard-line and it settled for a 26-yard field goal from senior Kyle Reighard to give the Spartans a 10-7 lead with 10:04 left in the second quarter.
The Titans got moving on their next drive, though. Johnson hit Quinerly for a 19-yard completion on an out pattern to the right. Palmer then rushed for seven yards, senior Marcus Hawkins picked up a nine-yard run and Johnson bulled his way for a six-yard carry to the four yard-line. Johnson then muscled up the middle and into the end zone with 3:14 before halftime to give Lake Taylor the lead back at 14-10. The drive chewed 6:43 off the clock.
An attempted response by Salem ended in a punt, right into the hands of Quinerly, eagerly awaiting at his own 18 yard-line. Quinerly juked and jived left, then right, before racing down the right sideline 82 yards for a touchdown with just over a minute to play before halftime. And at the break, the Titans had a commanding 21-10 lead.
In the first half, Salem outgained Lake Taylor 140-126, but was just 1-5 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down.
The Titans picked up where they left off to start the third quarter. After advancing the ball passed mid-field, Johnson hit Quinerly on a screen to the right, with Quinerly shedding a tackler for a 25-yard pickup to the 20 yard-line. But Lake Taylor couldn't pick up another first down, as junior linebacker sacked Johnson for a four-yard loss, back to the 19 yard-line.
On the following drive, though, the Spartans quickly got the ball back. Clayborne had the ball popped loose on a run to the right and JT Wahee recovered the ball at the Salem 45 yard-line.
On the very next play, junior wide receiver Wayne Davis got one-on-one coverage and Johnson saw it. Johnson threw a rainbow to Davis, who caught the ball in the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown reception. And with 6:54 still left in the third quarter, the Titans had a commanding 28-10 lead.
But the Spartans weren't out of it just yet. Coulling play action-faked, then hit a wide open Cody Peregoy for a 49-yard rumble over the middle of the field to the Lake Taylor 31 yard-line. Salem couldn't do anything though on its next four plays, including an incomplete pass on fourth and five to give the ball back to the Titans at their own 26 yard-line.
That was plenty of room for Johnson to work with. He took the first play of the next drive left on a keeper, cut back over the middle of the field and took off on a 72-yard touchdown run. Johnson was shaken up on the play, though and the ensuing extra point went wide right, but Lake Taylor still had a 34-10 lead with 3:05 left in the third quarter.
The Spartans, though, quickly ended the scoring onslaught. They struck back with just a few plays, starting with a 43-yard run to the right by Clayborne. Coulling then found a wide open Isaiah Parker just before the goal line on the next play, as Parker tumbled into the end zone for a touchdown. Salem still faced a 34-16 deficit, but with 2:37 in the third quarter, at least had some life.
The Titans chewed up plenty of clock, though and got a few timely plays to keep going. One of those came when Johnson scrambled right and threw a strike to Palmer for 24 yards to the Spartans' 22 yard-line. Lake Taylor was forced to punt on fourth and 22, but the drive took 5:17.
Salem, though, dug itself a bit more of a hole when it failed to convert another fourth down at its own 33 yard-line. And after salting more of the clock, Johnson put the game away with an eight-yard touchdown run to the left with 3:13 to play. The Titans had a 41-16 advantage and the championship well in hand.
